WTF: Kellogg Edition

Did you know that the makers of Kellogg cereals (we’re talking about the original makers here), were super anti-masturbation and actively campaigned against it? The first Kellogg cereals were actually designed specifically to be super bland because J. H. Kellogg thought that a bland breakfast would decrease sexual arousal throughout the day (huh?). Kellogg and his buddy Graham (of Graham crackers, yes) wrote lots of books on the evils of masturbation, even suggesting that carbolic acid be placed on the clitoris to keep girls from touching themselves.

Right. I think there are a bunch of charitable organizations related to Kellogg, and that’s awesome and commendable. I just wanted to point out the extremely odd and questionable roots of the cereal’s inception.

I took a class on the history of foods (obviously a G.E. course) over the summer. The original Kelloggs started a “sanitarium” (essentially a get-away retreat) to improve people’s health. He served his cereal at the sanitarium and his brother began to sell it. Kellogg attended the Seventh Day Adventist Church (whose members were against alcohol and tobacco), though I’m unsure of the connection between his cereal and his wanting to reduce sexual arousal.

You don’t know the half of it! You might want to look at T.C. Boyle’s novel, “The Road to Wellville”. It is a funny, satirical account of the Kellogg’s clinic and turn-of-the-century health fads of the middle class.